An August Afternoon: Revisited
by silentmusic16
Summary: Roxas, bored out of his mind the summer before college, gets new neighbors. A revised version of "An August Afternoon". An AU KH story with some Rokunami, a writing exercise, and a minor tribute to FLCL. Completed.


**I decided that I really, really liked this story for some reason. But after reading the original upload, I found it laced with problems. That's why I revised it and (hopefully) made it better; I want you guys to love it like I do.**

**The opening and closing notes in the original upload sill stand.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>It was late afternoon, around five o'clock. Thin white clouds drifted past the low-hanging sun, periodically painting giant shadows on the ground. A warm wind breezed through the trees and slightly tousled my hair. The smell of the not-too-far-off city was carried on that breeze; car exhaust, food, people, asphalt. But here in the suburbs, the scent mixed with that of trees and dusty roads. There was nothing to do here. There never was.<p>

I was standing on my balcony, overlooking the town. In between the spaced-out houses were clumps of dark green trees. Behind the town, a small, forest covered mountain. I went there sometimes, usually with my best friends. But with it being the summer of my senior year, no one was around. Everyone was either vacationing or they had already headed off to their colleges. I, on the other hand, had nowhere to go. Day in and day out I'd hang out in my room or I'd walk the town (which wasn't very big at all).

Sometimes, if I was really bored, I'd play my bass. Just a few bass lines here and there, things I picked up from songs I liked. Once in a while I'd make up my own, but I wouldn't remember them the next day. Such is the life of the undedicated artist.

Anyway, that day was sometime in early August. A month after that, I'd be at college, 'eagerly' awaiting four years of mind-numbing work and being surrounded by idiots. But in this day and age, _not_ going to college was crazy.

I was looking over the town when I spotted a moving truck pull into the driveway of a house a few blocks from mine. This instantly grabbed my attention; new people didn't show up here very often. I watched intently as the truck stopped and the exhaust traveled slowly up to the sky. Out of the driver's seat, a man with short blond hair walked to the back of the truck and opened it. Even from my view, I could tell that they didn't have many belongings. From the passenger's seat, a girl with blonde hair to the length of her back slowly stepped out of the truck clutching what looked like a drawing pad close to her chest.

_A new girl?_ I thought to myself. _She looks like she's my age too. Maybe I should introduce myself._

I pulled myself away from watching as the man and a few helpers began unloading the new people's belongings and I slipped on my sneakers. No one was home with me, so I wrote a note to my parents that I was going out and that I took some of flowers from the garden as a housewarming gift. My cellphone had fallen into the near-by river and so I couldn't call them until I got a new one.

I took my time walking to the girl's house and I tried enjoying the same scenery I'd looked at for 18 years. It didn't work. Still, by the time I got there, the moving truck had disappeared and the house was all closed up. Not even a window was open on a day with such beautiful weather.

With the back of my knuckle I knocked on the wooden front door. Come to think of it, I didn't even know the people who used to live here. Hell, I didn't even know that they were selling their house, which was weird, considering how close everyone in this town was to each other.

After about 2 minutes, I knocked again. This time I heard someone in the house ask "Namine, can you please get the door". A few moments later, the door opened and I was face to face with the blonde girl I'd seen earlier.

_Namine_.

"Um…" I rubbed the back of my neck. "You guys are new, right? I'm Roxas Hikari. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand for a handshake. The girl took my hand and shook it lightly. Her skin was as soft as a feather.

She smiled. "Hi. I'm Namine Grey. And yes, my father and I just moved in today."

_No mention of her mother, huh? Were they divorced? Was she dead? Was that why they didn't have many belongings? _Obviously, I didn't ask those questions.

For a few moments we stood their awkwardly before I remembered the flowers in my hand. "Here," She gingerly took them from me. "They're a housewarming gift. I would've brought over something better, but my parents weren't home."

"No, no, it's fine. They're beautiful! Thank you!"

I stood there just looking at her smiling face for a few seconds before coming up with an idea to spend a little more time with her. Something about the blonde girl intrigued me.

"So...would you like me to give you a little tour of the town?" I asked. Not only would giving her a tour be a nice thing to do, but I'd be able to spend more time with her _and _I wouldn't be bored anymore. A win-win-win situation.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose or anything."

"Nah, you're not imposing at all. It's something that I want to do."

"Great! I just have to ask my father first. I'll be right back."

I hardly had time to nod before the house door closed. Inside, I could hear faint voices. There only seemed to be two of them, and again, there didn't seem to be a mother in the house.

After a few minutes the door opened again, and Namine stood there with her drawing pad held close to the side of her body. "Ready?"

"Yep." I nodded my head and lead the way.

~!~

I took Namine all over town. I showed her the tastiest eateries, the most entertaining places to go, the best stores. I tried giving her a general sense of where the more important streets were, but I guess it was a bit much to take in all at once, as she seemed a bit confused. Oh well, it's not like taking another walk around town with a pretty girl was a problem for me. Namine stared in awe at my simple city, but I couldn't really blame her; it was all new to her, of course it'd be interesting.

"So, where'd you come from?" I asked as we passed the town's post office.

"The city. My father and I lived in an apartment together, but when I um…" She was quiet for a moment or two, "Well, anyway, we thought that the air might be cleaner here."

I really, really wanted to ask her what she was going to say. What was the real reason she moved here? Whatever that reason was had to have been important if she wouldn't tell me. Still, I couldn't just come out and ask if she didn't want to tell me, so I bit my tongue.

"I see. I've lived here all my life and I've gotten sick maybe…three times in total? The air really is cleaner here. I think it's got something to do with the breeze that blows inland from the sea to the south. We're actually pretty close to the beach, if you didn't know already."

"We are? I love the beach! It's usually so peaceful and beautiful there." Namine became very excited when I mentioned the beach and it made me want to make her happy like that again. In my mind, I made a note to take her there one day that summer (which I ended up doing).

"I know just what you mean."

To finish off the tour, I took Namine to the overpass that served as a bridge between the road to the city and my quiet little town. There was a guardrail between the road and the side of the bridge, but it was easy enough to get over and sit on the edge, back pressed against the metal guard. The overpass was another place I really liked to go, mainly because looking out at the river was something that I enjoyed doing when there was nothing else to do (which was a common occurrence where around here).

Namine and I sat next to each other, feet hanging off the edge as we stared out at the water below us. The river was probably about 30 feet below, so while a fall probably wouldn't kill you, you'd still get injured pretty badly. Behind us, the sun was even further below the horizon than when I had first seen the moving truck that afternoon, and now the sky was lit up in bright oranges and pinks and reds. It was quiet a beautiful sight to see and another reason I came to the bridge a lot.

"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight." Namine said out of the blue. There was the small hint of a smile on her face. No, thinking back, it was actually most likely nostalgia - a mixture of happiness, sadness, and memories of times past.

"Huh?"

"It's an old saying my mother taught me. Basically, it means that if the sky is red during dawn, a storm is approaching. If the sky's red at dusk, there would be good weather the next day."

"Oh. Is it true? Does it work?" _I hope it isn't. If the weather stays like it has all week, I swear I'll go crazy. Four days that look the same and feel the same might as well just be one long day._

"Mhm. It's never failed me, anyway."

_Damn._

Another bout of silence overcame us, though it wasn't uncomfortable.

"So…" I began. "Why'd you say you moved out here again?" I had to get the truth. She was quiet for a few minutes.

"I've recently developed the same disease my mother died from when I was 5." She said with a practiced calmness. "It has something to do with the way air is filtered through my lungs. Anyway, the city air was too dirty and smoggy for me to stay healthy, so my dad moved us out here. But it's not like I'm just going to instantly get healthy: I'm still going to have trouble breathing and such. I can't escape this that easily." Near the end of her story, her voice took on a hard edge, like she was angry.

"Oh." I began, my eyes looking anywhere but to her's. "I'm sorry I asked. Is there anything that can be done?" Honestly, I was a bit sorry that I asked. And I did feel bad for her. Still, when I get curious about something I can't just drop it; nothing can stop me from finding out what I want to find out. And it was oddly easy to get the truth from her. I bet that she was just waiting for the right person to tell so that she could get it off her chest.

"Not that my doctor's know of. I'm just not supposed to exert myself too much or breathe bad air. That's really all I can do."

The conversation dropped off and I looked over at her. Namine was wearing a simple white sundress and gladiator sandals, her feet kicking back and forth slowly as they hung over the edge of the bridge. She was very pretty, beautiful even, but it was easy to tell that there was something physically wrong with her. She took sharp, quick, unnatural breaths and they seemed to cause some sort of strain on her body. With each inhale and exhale, her body trembled slightly. _I wonder what damage just walking with me could've caused_. Instantly I felt a pang of guilt.

"What's with the drawing pad?"

"This?" she picked up the brown-covered notebook and showed me the outside. "I draw a lot, mainly because I can't do much else. But drawing's fun, so I don't mind. I'm actually going to college in the Fall for an art degree."

_So she _is_ my age._ I thought.

"I'm going to college in the Fall as well, but for an English degree." I added.

"Where?"

"Up north. Twilight Town Uni. You?"

"Same." She gave me a great big smile, then leaned her head on my shoulder. "Thanks for being nice and showing me around today. You really didn't need to."

"Not a problem. I enjoyed hanging out with you."

We sat there for a long while in a comfortable silence and stared at the fiery reflection of the sun on the river. I heard her yawn a few times before I decided that it was time to go back.

~!~

"See you tomorrow?" I asked at her door.

"Perhaps." A playful, teasing smirk. I returned it before walking back to my own house. After being with her for a few hours, everything seemed new, like I was seeing it for the first time again. Even the scenery that I'd looked at for the entire 18 years that I'd lived in that town gained new life.

When I got home, my parents still weren't back from my relatives' place. Crickets chirped in the deep blue darkness. It was the night of a new moon and, while there wasn't actually a moon to speak of, the stars were still shining brightly down on the town. From a distance, I could vaguely make out the lights of the city. _Do they see the same stars that I do? Is Namine alone too, looking up at the stars just as I am? _

_It doesn't really matter, does it? _I concluded.

I was back on my balcony, staring out at the stars and the town around me. Maybe this summer would continue being boring. Maybe I'd spend my final summer before I entered the "real world" alone, bored out of my mind. But with Namine, maybe we could be bored together.

Not too far off in the distance, the sound of the flowing river droned on. The warm breeze from earlier returned. The smell of the city wasn't as strong, though it was still present. All around me, there was a deep stillness. I was in my own bubble of thoughts and stars. And I imagined that Namine was in her own bubble too.

_Maybe we could be bored…together._

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><p><strong>So what do you think? Did I fix it up nicely? Is it still a piece of trash? I won't know until you review! Even a sentence is fine!<strong>

**That being said, I still recommend watching the FLCL dub and I _strongly_ recommend giving a listen to the OST(s). If you don't want to do that, look up some songs from "The Pillows" on Youtube. If you get any that were in FLCL, you won't be disappointed.**


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